How To Make Fitness A Habit

Most Workout Programs Are Dropped

The ugly fact about workout programs is that most people drop them. That does not make the person or the program a failure; it often takes a few tries before finding a workout that sticks or learning enough about yourself that you can make anything stick. Current research on building good health habits shows that it takes two months of repetition tied to a behavioral trigger before a habit becomes maximally automatic, much longer than conventional wisdom suggests. Making fitness a habit requires more than forcing yourself to go to the gym every day for two weeks. Making fitness a habit requires longer and more intentional repetition and a strategy to condition your mind. So consider the following four keys to building good habits and sticking to your workouts will be much easier and your fitness success will be much more achievable.

Consider Repetition, Simplicity, Triggering, and Consistency When Building Your Workout Plan

Your chances of success in forming any habit go up as the amount of repetition, simplicity, triggering, and consistency go up.

Repetition - Intend to repeat the action at least every day. Multiple times a day is better. Research shows that missing a very occasional day does not affect the rate of habit establishment, so don't kick yourself if you slip up. But research also shows that more missed workouts equals less habit forming so intend to repeat at least every day.

Simplicity - Simple actions become habits much more easily. Actions like "grab the pull-up bar" and "do a push-up" will become habits much more easily than "begin my 7 device workout circuit" or "change clothes, find the dvd, and follow Jillian for 15 minutes". If you can establish the more complex workouts as a habit that is great! Those workouts are great. Complex workouts just do not easily become a habit for most of us so when you are having trouble making a habit, make it simple.

Triggering - Strong habits are triggered by daily actions that you would perform anyway. Pair a habit you want with a habit you already have. Simple and high-repetition trigger pairs such as "press START on the microwave -> reach up for the pull-up bar" and "take off my shoes -> do a push-up" work much better than "remember to drive by the gym on the way home on Tuesdays and Fridays."

Consistency - Every time you do the trigger, do the habit you want to build. The more you do it every time, the more it becomes a habit. That is a big reason why simple actions with frequent triggers "stick" more often than complex workouts on infrequent schedules.

I enjoy taking orders from Jillian, trying to keep up with Shaun T, and gritting it out with new friends at a "combat fit" class at the gym. I sincerely applaud people with enough self discipline to make workouts like these a habit. But most people (including me) are somewhat spontaneous, have more random schedules, and lack the self discipline to make complex, distant, or irregular workouts a habit. Simple basic exercises like counter corner leg lifts and pull-ups consistently triggered by daily behaviors more easily become great fitness habits and can work fitness wonders for you.

Mike Massey
http://freefitnessforlife.com/

Free at-home fitness exercises and tips. If gym memberships and exercise programs have not worked for you either, make fitness an easy and natural part of your everyday life.

Get started now at http://freefitnessforlife.com/

Article Source:http://EzineArticles.com/?expert

View the Original article